Shotgun forearm



G. T. BRADLEY sHoTGUN FOREARM ug. w, ma.

Filed July 11, 1947 KN. WN

Patentecl Aug. 17, 1948 SHTGUN FOREABM George T. Bradley, Miami, Fla.

Application July 11, 1947, Serial No. '760,298

1' Claim. l

This invention relates to improvements in firearms, and more particularly to an improved forearm for an automatic shotgun.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved shotgun forearm formed of a durable, moldable material, such as a synthetic resin plastic, which will not 4crack or split, wear rapidly lor lose its finish and is resistant to temperature changes so that the forearm does not become unduly hot from ring of the gun or unduly cold in freezing weather, which forearm may be flttedto a conventional gun without modification of the gun structure, has securing pins and a gun lubricating tting permanently molded therein and provides interiorly thereof a space in which to store a gun magazine plug when the plug is not in use in the gun magazine so that the plug will not be lost or misplaced and will always be available when needed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automatic shotgun showing the application thereto of a forearm illustrative of the invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on an enlarged scale of the forearm illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse cross-section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a transverse cross-section on the line ll--ll lof Figure 2.

With continued reference to the drawing, the conventional gun, illustrated in Figure 1 has a stock IIJ, breech mechanism Il, barrel I2, and a forearm, generally indicated at I3, underlying the rearward portion of the barrel and abutting at its rear end against the forward end of the breech mechanism Il.

The improved forearm I3 is a hollow body formed of a suitable moldable material of a substantially homogenous character and high structural strength, material such as Bakelite or Formica having been found particularly suitable for this purpose. The forearm is provided with a longitudinal cylindrical bore I 4 extending therethrough which bore receives the recoil mechanism and magazine tubes, not illustrated, of the gun. The upper side of the forearm is open for the major part Iof its length, as indicated at I5, so that the barrel ring portion of the recoil mechanism may slide lengthwise of the forearm and the upper side of the forearm is concavely grooved throughout its length, as indicated at I6,

so that the upper side of the forearm fits closely around the lower side of the barrel I2. Near its forward end the bore I'll is provided with an internal shoulder I'I and from this point to its front end the upper side of the forearm is closed to provide a complete, cylindrical bore which. receives and holds the forward end of the gun magazine tube, the end of the tube being closed by suitable closure cap I9.

A pair of pins 2D proje'ct from the rear or butt end of the forearm and are receivable in holes provided in the forward end of the breech mechanism II to assist in holding the forearm in place on the gun. These pins are located one at each side of the opening in the upper side of the forearm and are moulded into the material of the forearm so that they are held firmly and permanently in place.

An elongated opening 2l of somewhat crescentshaped cross-section is provided in the bottom portion of the wall of the forearm and extends from a location adjacent the shoulder I'I rearwardly of the forearm a distance sufficient to completely receive a three-shell gun plug 22 therein. At its front end the well or recess 2| opens at a transverse shoulder 23 provided in the lower side of the forearm and this open end of the recess 2l is closed by a plate 2li which overlies the open end of the recess and is detachably secured to the forearm by a screw 25 which passes through an aperture in the plate and is threaded into an internally-screw-threaded sleeve 26 embedded in the material of the forearm immediately above the front open end of the recess 2|. The gun magazine plug 22 is partly cylindrical in shape and ts into the somewhat crescent-shaped recess 2l so that it can be stored in the gun when not in use and is always readily available when needed.

A lubricant fitting, generally indicated at 21, is embedded in the forearm i3 at the upper side of the forearm. and preferably adjacent the front end thereof. This tting may conveniently comprise a small tube 28, preferably formed of brass or some similar non-corrosive material which extends inwardly and downwardly through the wall of the forearm at an angle of approximately 45 to a plane including the longitudinal center-line of the bore I' and the longitudinal acenter-line of the gun barrel I2 so that lubricant, such as gun oil, supplied to the outer end of the tube will fall from the inner end of the tube onto the recoil mechanism located in the bore Ul. The tube 28 is provided with lateral extensions 29 which firmly secure it in the wall of the forearm and contains a valve ball 3l] which is urged by a compression spring 3l into seating relationship with the beaded-over outer-end portion of the tube 23 so that the ball normally closes the outer end of the tube, but may be displaced inwardly by the spout of arl oil can to permit the injection of oil into the tube.

The improved forearm is provided externally with longitudinal ribs 3 2 which .extend transe versely across thefunwardly-tapered forward end of the lower portion of the forearm to provide a firm hand-grip for the gun and is also provided with a pair of longitudinally-extending grooves 33 near the upper side thereof which also -facilitate holding the gun in proper ring position.

There is thus provided an improved forearm dor an automatic shotgun which forearmis vformed of material which will not check, crack or s plit, or lose its iinish becauseof repeated Wettings and @Q Iltat With scratching or abrasive objects, which isvheateinsulating so that it does not become 'unduly hot in hot weather or uponrepeated firing of the gun, and does not become cold enough to cause the hands of a personhandling the gun to sticll; to ,the forearm even in extremely c old weather, which provides for convenient lubrica Ytion .of the gun recoil mechanism land also provides a convenient recess or receptacle for the storage of a gun magazine plug to avoid losing or misplacing the plug, and to render the plug readily accessible whenever it is needed.

The invention may be embodied in other specific Viorrns without` departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in al1 respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claim are, therefore, intended to 'be embracedtherein.

What is claimed is:

A gun forearm comprising .an Iielflligated, hollow body having an opening in its `upper side to receive the lower portion olf a gun barrel. a bore therethrough to receive a gun recoil and magazine mechanism and a magazine-plug-receiving recess longitudinally disposed in the lower portion thereof and spaced from said bore, said recess having one open end. and closure means for the open end of said recess detachably secured to said body.

GEORGE 'I'. BRADLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

